Shinji Koganei
Shinji Koganei (小金井 真司 Koganei Shinji) is a second year small forward at Seirin High. It is said that he can do anything, yet isn't a master of anything and thus, given the nickname "Jack of All Trades". Appearance Koganei has relatively short, spiky, dark brown hair and short bangs. His most distinctive feature is his mouth that's curved like a cat's. He's one of the shortest members of the Seirin team and wears the Seirin jersey with the number 6. Personality Koganei is called Koga by most second year members of Seirin. He is very friendly and talkative, often speaking louder than necessary. He is also scared very quickly and holds admiration for a strong opponent. However he can also be quite pessimistic, even during matches. When Riko raises the team's morale in training, he is usually the first to complain. Despite his open and friendly attitude, he takes matches very seriously. In the match against Seihō High, he fought for his pride.Kuroko no Basuke chapter 22, page 23 During Seirin vs Rakuzan game, he's seen marking Reo Mibuchi and went all out to stop him even though their skill levels were very far apart, owing to the fact Reo Mibuchi is one of the Uncrowned Kings and the best shooter among high school teams, excluding Shintarō Midorima from Shutoku High. History Koganei played a lot of sports, including baseball, soccer and swimming before switching to tennis in Junior High school. He again changed his mind to basketball when he saw Mitobe playing it. He shared his intentions with his sister only for them to be met with disapproval and she reminded him this wasn't the first time this had happened. In high school, he and Mitobe heard about the gathering of a basketball club and approached Kiyoshi. They both join the club, becoming the club's third and fourth member. Koganei immediately proves himself to be a complete novice at basketball, even calling traveling "cycling".Kuroko no Basuke chapter 95, page 20 Koga also wanted a cute female manager for the team and so the basketball team ask Riko to join them. After Riko refused, Koganei complained about her stubbornness. Later, when the basketball team went to eat at a fastfood restaurant, they discuss their positions. Koga said that he wants to be side back, to the despair of Izuki.Kuroko no Basuke chapter 96, page 8 The next day, at school during the morning ceremony, the team stood on the roof of the building and shouted their resolve, Koga including but he didn't mean it completely at the time.Kuroko no Basuke chapter 256, page 13 Riko eventually decided to join them and the Seirin High basketball team is formed. The trainings started, their game uniforms arrived (where Koga seemed very excited about) and Seirin eventually played their first match, which they win. However, Koganei was quickly discouraged by the coach's training and thought he wasn't good enough. He decided to quit, but he delayed his resignation after being convinced by Mitobe.Kuroko no Basuke chapter 256, page 14 He began to improve himself and soon became Seirin's "Jack of all Trades". Seirin advanced to the last match before the final league of the Interhigh preliminaries and for their next match, they went to a very large gym with a large audience. Koga is overwhelmed by this.Kuroko no Basuke chapter 98, page 8 Seirin won their match against Kirisaki Daīchi High, but Koganei was pained to see his team lost Kiyoshi in the progress. They were defeated in the Interhigh preliminaries final league. Koganei cried that day and came to understand that he had completely lost his desire to quit basketball.Kuroko no Basuke chapter 256, page 16 Story Introduction Koganei is first seen at the opening ceremony of Seirin High School. He was recruiting new members for the basketball club and ran into Kagami. He ended up being brought to the basketball club booth by him. Kagami fills in an application paper and leaves. After Kagami left, Koganei sighs and calls Kagami scary. He was about to explain to Riko why Kagami had him by the neck, when he notices Kuroko's form. He gives it to Riko and she sees that he's from Teikō Junior High School, meaning that Kuroko is one of the Generation of Miracles. Koga wonders about why the freshmen this year are so amazing.Kuroko no Basuke chapter 1, page 11 He later appears on the first and second training of the new Seirin team. He joins in the match against the freshmen and is seen triple-teaming Kagami.Kuroko no Basuke chapter 1, page 38 Interhigh preliminaries Semi-finals Koganei starts on the bench in Seirin's match against one of the Three Kings of Tokyo, Seihō High. He subs in for Kagami when Riko decides to spare Kagami and Kuroko for later. Now with only second years in the field, Seirin declares that they are going to win for their pride as sempais.Kuroko no Basuke chapter 22, page 23 The match goes on and Seirin keeps up with Seihō with a lay-up from Koga. As Riko is explaining Izuki's Eagle Eye, Furihata asks about Koganei's skill. Koga shoots at that moment and Riko says that Koga can shoot from any range. The shot goes off the rim and Riko adds that his accuracy is average. The match continues and the ball is stolen and fumbles out. Koga runs for the ball and manages to keep it in bounds, but is unable to stop his run, trips and falls behind the bench.Kuroko no Basuke chapter 23, page 16 The team is surprised and Riko examines him, saying it's probably a mild concussion. Kuroko subs in for his place. Seirin eventually wins the match. Finals ]]Seirin goes to the locker room and Koga is seen conscious and well, putting on his jacket and eating a banana.Kuroko no Basuke chapter 25, page 7 He accompanies Kuroko to the toilets and encounters Takao, who sees Kuroko immediately, much to the surprise of Koga. The match begins and Koga starts on the bench. He comments on the game and on Midorima's abilities throughout the match. After half time, because of Kuroko's problem with Takao, Koga subs in for him. At his first ball contact after a pass from Izuki, he shoots and scores.Kuroko no Basuke chapter 30, page 15 He is later blocked by Ōtsubo and marks him in defense, together with Mitobe. Even though Ōtsubo has two players marking him, he still out-jumps them. Later, when Kagami is about to collapse, he subs back out for Kuroko.Kuroko no Basuke chapter 32, page 18 With Kuroko back on the court, the team overcomes the King of Tokyo and wins the match. Winter Cup Round 1 Koga, along with the rest of Seirin, attended the opening ceremony. When their match against Tōō Academy was starting and Seirin entered the court, Koga is overwhelmed by the cheering audience and wonders if they might be famous. Kiyoshi says they're not, that the audience is cheering for the other team, Tōō. The match commences and Koganei is seen sitting on the bench, together with Mitobe and Tsuchida.Kuroko no Basuke chapter 114, page 16 Finals The day of the finals against Rakuzan, Koganei prepares his stuff but he is interrupted by his sister Akane. She tells him that it would be amazing if Seirin wins the tournament. He agrees and adds that she should come watching if she has the time. Her sister then asks if he's going to play, to which Koganei responds that he may not because he's not a starter. She states that Koganei has changed since middle school. When she and her mother came to watch his games but didn't get to play, he wouldn't cheer on his team-mates. She reminisces that her mother got very mad at Koganei, to which he replied something about not cheering on others if he didn't get to play himself. Koganei tells her that everyone wants to play, but right now he wants to win with everyone. Satisfied, his sister says enthusiastically that she'll bring the whole family to cheer him on.Kuroko no Basuke chapter 229, page 11 During the first half of the match, Koganei witnesses from the bench his team being in a pinch. However, at Seirin's locker room, Hyūga manages to stimulate the team and asks Koganei to screen Mibuchi as much as possible. After the beginning of the second half, Koganei screens Mibuchi, which permits Hyūga to score a three-pointer. But soon after, Hyūga makes two fouls and he is subbed out. Meanwhile, at the bench, Kuroko is distressed by his team-mates' situation and returns on the pitch. He himself screens Mibuchi to let Koganei shoot, which brings the score at 65-42, still in favor of Rakuzan. Koganei later watches the revival of Kuroko's Misdirection. Nevertheless, Koganei gets the ball stolen by Akashi but he himself faces Kagami in the Zone. Koganei is reminded by Mibuchi that even Kagami can't beat Akashi since he already did in the first half. Koganei then thinks to himself that it's only Kagami that can keep the momentum created by Kuroko and it's up to him to continue.Kuroko no Basuke chapter 250, page 1 Nevertheless, the Rakuzan's team manages to score only thanks to Mayuzumi's pass. In the counter-attack, Koganei profits from Kuroko's screen at Mibuchi again to score, which earns him the congratulations of Seirin's bench players. The opponent team calls a time-out and every Seirin's players steals other lines at the bench, with Koga stealing from Kiyoshi by telling his team-mates to go have some fun. After the match has restarted, Koga is surprised to see Mayuzumi on the pitch after being overwritten by Kuroko. Mayuzumi then involuntary makes the ball disappear during Akashi's pass to Mibuchi, to which Kagami couldn't react. Koganei is unable to block Mibuchi's three-pointer as the gap begins to widen again.Kuroko no Basuke chapter 251, page 20 Koganei is later astonished by Hayama's five fingers dribbling and watches him pass effortlessly through Izuki's defense. He goes to console him but instead, he sees Izuki getting pumped up. As Izuki keep getting passed, Koganei misses Rakuzan's hoop in offense but Kagami is at the rebound to make it through. Izuki, with Kuroko and Kagami finally manages to block Hayama. Kuroko then passes the ball to Koganei, who passes it to the left as being told by Izuki. Koganei is surprised as Mibuchi was there to block.Kuroko no Basuke chapter 254, page 14 Izuki then evades Hayama and performs an alley-oop with Kagami. Kagami scores again after Hayama's moment of inattention and reduces the gap to sixteen points. Hayama seems to have calm down but Seirin faces now another problem: three-pointers. Mibuchi receives the ball, and tells to his match-up Koganei that he is not gonna hold back like his team-mate. However, Koganei looks satisfied and is asked why. Koganei responds that what Izuki has done is amazing, and says with little confidence that he has to keep going too. He then positions himself to bring out his animal instinct, which surprises Mibuchi and Nebuya. The opponent player jumps for a shot as Koganei steps back. Even, Koganei is unable to reach the ball, but Mibuchi happens to miss the shot. Nonetheless, Nebuya catches the rebound as Koganei curses at his failure.Kuroko no Basuke chapter 255, page 20 Koganei later sees Kiyoshi being belittled by Nebuya and tells at his team-mate to cheer up. Kiyoshi is not convinced by his attempt but remarks that he is the one who's having fun. He answers that playing in a match is fun itself. His opponent Mibuchi gets the ball and says to Koganei that he'll not be able to move this time. Mibuchi jumps, going for the Oblivion shot, while Koganei remembers basketball as the first sport where he would give his all. Somehow, he succeeds to react and almost touched Mibuchi's shot.Kuroko no Basuke chapter 256, page 17 But the shot makes its way to the net as Koganei realizes he won't be able to stop Oblivion next time because of his height. The third quarter ends, with Rakuzan leading at 88-68. Koganei heads towards Hyūga to apologize for his weakness. Hyūga disapproves and thanks him because Koganei made him able to fight too. Koganei smiles and leaves the rest to him. He then takes a drink and thinks to himself that he is satisfied of his play. He is even more happy to have help the team and wonders what would happened if he was taller. He continues to wonder if he could have done more if he played basketball sooner. He becomes frustrated as he knows he wanted to stay in the court longer. Mitobe throws a towel to Koganei, who can no longer hold his tears.Kuroko no Basuke chapter 257, page 9 Skill Koganei is a jack off all trades, but a master of none, meaning that he has no specialties or special talents. He possesses very regular basketball skills, he can shoot or lay-up, but that it won't necessarily go in.Kuroko no Basuke chapter 23, page 15 His lack of skill is because he only started playing basketball in high school. But because of his training the past and this year under Riko's schedule, he greatly improved his overall abilities, being at an average strength and speed at the moment. However, Riko states that he has the level to participate on a tournament's finals.Kuroko no Basuke chapter 255, page 17 Tōō's players Susa and Wakamatsu further add that he has talent and determination for being able to catch up with his inexperience at basketball.Kuroko no Basuke chapter 256, page 8-9 In the CHARACTERS BIBLE, his chart shows that he has excellent physical abilities but he lacks in technique and special ability. In the match against Rakuzan, it is revealed that Koganei possesses animal instinct as well that he has acquired during his experience at tennis. This allows him to heighten his reflexes, though very far from the level of Kagami, Aomine or Hayama, but enough to threaten Mibuchi. Describing each player's animal instinct with certain animals, Koganei's wildness level is compared to that of a wildcat while; Kagami as a tiger, Aomine as a black panther, Hayama as a cheetah.Kuroko no Basuke chapter 255, page 17 Off the court, however, his ability to read non-verbal communication is unmatched. He can understand Mitobe's 'sign language' to signal to Riko that Kagami is overmatched. He also sometimes says profound things that only Teppei appreciates. Relationships Rinnosuke Mitobe It seen to all episodes that Koganei is the only one who can understand what Mitobe was always saying even if Mitobe never speaks and he is the closest friend of Koganei in Serin. Seirin High Quotes *''"I'm not being carefree about it, and I'm doing all that I can like this. But playing in a match has gotta be fun, right?"Kuroko no Basuke chapter 256, page 8 Trivia *Koganei has an older sister named Akane that has appeared twice already. She resembles him greatly, especially the cat-shaped mouth and eyes. Before the Winter Cup finals, she is seen to be proud of Koganei's attitude even though he is a bench player.Kuroko no Basuke chapter 229, page 9 Their father and mother are also seen heading for the Winter Cup finals together with their daughter.Kuroko no Basuke chapter 230, page 10 *On the first character poll, Koganei ranked 10th, with 525 votes. On the second poll, he went down to 20th place, with 224 votes. On the third poll, he continues fall further at 41th place with 68 votes. *On last year's test results, he ranked 52nd out of 300.Kuroko no Basuke chapter 37, page 11 *According to the ''CHARACTERS BIBLE : **His hobby is making plamo (plastic models). **His specialty is Yoyo. **His motto is: "If you have your spirit, you can do anything." *According to the KUROFES **His favorite food is Baumkuchen. **His best subject is N/A. **He is in none of the School committees. **He has a father, mother, and an older sister. **He dislikes Pigeons, avocados, and practicing after losing a game. **His Best basketball move is N/A. **His type of girl is a cheerful person. **He spends his free time doing various things. First is to not sit still. **He started playing basketball is because it looked interesting when he saw Mitobe playing. **The player he has eyes on is Susa. *Koganei and Mitobe both have part-time jobs.Kuroko no Basuke Special CD Vol. 23 References Navigation id:Shinji Koganei zh:小金井慎二 Category:Characters Category:Players Category:Seirin High Category:SF